


In the Midst of Chaos

by AnimeShipper12, notcompletelysane



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: 15 passenger van, Chuck Lives, Exploration, Grievers, I can't tag to save my life, Im done trying, In the Maze, M/M, New Monster, Newt is reluctant, Summary is not any better either, Thomas is psychotic, YouTube
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:07:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24585814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimeShipper12/pseuds/AnimeShipper12, https://archiveofourown.org/users/notcompletelysane/pseuds/notcompletelysane
Summary: What happens when a group decides to willingly walk into the maze?Newt is a homebody. When he’s not busy studying for his exams, he’s posting new YouTube videos on the account he shares with his friends and sisterThomas is an adventurer. He loves exploring and uncovering the stories hidden behind old abandoned places. When he’s not busy studying, he’s out with his friends/housemates and brother, exploring new and exciting things, sometimes going beyond what is considered normal.All it takes is one comment from his sister during a live stream to tear Newt’s homebody lifestyle to shreds. Some strings are pulled, requests are made, feet are kissed and suddenly there’s a collaboration of the two channels in the works. One minute Newt’s comfortably seated on his couch playing games and planning on how to study for his finals, the next he and his friends are traveling in a 15 passenger van with Thomas’s group to an undisclosed location.Unknown to Newt’s group, Thomas had snooped in on a particularly sketchy phone call describing the most neglected area in the world, and he realizes he might have found something bigger than anything anyone is ready for.
Relationships: Newt/Thomas (Maze Runner)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Newt yawned as he entered the video room, as they all called it. A quick glance around showed that his friends and sister were already comfortably seated on the couch. He regretted staying up late to watch movies with them, he was beyond tired. Sonya glanced up from the video Ben was showing her and cracked a smile at him as she moved closer to Ben. He vaguely registered Alby doing the same moving towards the other side of the couch, both had scooted far enough to create an open seat between them. 

“Thanks.” Newt mumbled as he took the seat and laptop that was instantly shoved at him from Aris. 

“Just in time too, Ben was getting ready to pour water on you. If that hadn’t woken you up he was going to drag you out of bed and down the stairs.” Alby commented as he continued to scroll through his phone. 

Newt sent a questioning glance at the taller male on the other side of his sister, while he waited for the laptop to boot up. 

“Well… that’s not exactly how I had planned to get you down here. Only half of that was my idea, the rest was Sonya.” Newt nodded at the explanation and turned back to the laptop, knowing exactly which part Sonya had planned. He glanced at the time and frowned. 

“It’s only 11:45 in the morning… why am I even awake?” Newt groaned as he reached into his pocket for his phone. He glanced around Alby and frowned at Aris. “Why are  _ you _ awake?”

“You’re awake because you promised your viewers you would be live at 12:00. You’re cutting it kind of close if you ask me.” Aris explained tiredly while he saved his progress on his laptop.

“ _ I’m  _ awake, because no one else in this room knows how to edit your videos that are going up tomorrow.” Newt caught a glance of the screen and saw that his friend was in the middle of editing said videos and getting them ready to upload. 

“I thought the live wasn’t until Friday...” Newt questioned as he turned back to his phone and navigated his way through social media. 

“Newt, it is Friday.” Newt paused and stared at the blank TV, trying to figure out how he managed to miss a whole day. 

“Well then… let’s get everything ready shall we?” He decided as he set aside the laptop and made to get off the couch. Alby’s voice stopped him. 

“Everything is set up.” Newt turned to his friend waiting for the other male to continue. He glanced around at the rest of the group who all nodded their agreement.

Newt frowned as he turned his attention back to Alby, who sighed and paused in his text to meet Newts confused gaze. “The camera has been recording, Aris set up the lighting and helped me with the mic and other cameras. Sonya and Ben grabbed the console from the living room and hooked it up to the TV, along with downloading the game that won last week's voting poll. Everyone and everything is in its place. You just have to do what you do best and host the live.” Newt watched as his friend finished typing into his phone before pocketing it.

“How long has it been recording?” Newt questioned as he sat back and made himself comfortable. 

“Not long, don’t worry, Aris will edit out any useless parts like he always does. We haven’t even started the live yet either so no worries there.” Sonya commented. 

“Alright, well it’s good to see that I don’t need to worry about you lot. So, what will I be playing?” He questioned as he reached for the TV remote only to be stopped by Sonya’s hand on his wrist.

“It’s a surprise. You’ll have to wait until the live just like your viewers.” She answered before pulling the TV remote away from her brother and handing it to Ben. 

Newt huffed and grabbed the game controller, “Well, Aris, whenever you’re ready we can start. I’ll take my cue from you.” He yawned once more and rubbed any leftover signs of sleep from his face as he settled in. Aris nodded and turned his attention back to the laptop in front of him while the others talked among themselves. He let the group spend the next couple of minutes arguing about dinner that night before he signaled that he was ready. 

Newt watched as Aris placed the laptop out of the camera's sight. He watched the subtle countdown Aris gave before turning his attention back to the camera. 

“Afternoon all. Welcome back to my channel, as you can see I’m joined today by my sister Sonya. Beside her is my buddy Ben, and over here we have Alby and Aris. Just some quick introductions if this is the first time you’re joining us. We’ve started the live a couple of minutes early so we’re going to go ahead and give you all a chance to get here.” Newt stated as he glanced over at Sonya’s phone, not surprised that she had it showing the comments that some of the viewers had left and the amount of people watching already. 

“While we wait, I’m going to go make myself a quick cup of tea, I need something to quench my thirst before we begin. I leave my viewers in your hands, do not scare them off.” Newt warned his friends as he quickly made his way out of the camera's view. He watched as Alby and the others immediately jumped into a long argument over DC and Marvel, before heading out of the room. While he made his tea and grabbed water bottles for the others, Newt made sure to pull up the live stream on his phone to check on his friends, smiling when he saw the comment section. Many of the viewers were trying to participate in the argument. If he paid close enough attention to the video, he could hear Aris’ quiet voice reading off some of the comments to the arguing duo.

He quickly and carefully made his way back to the room and passed out the water before taking his seat back in the middle, cutting off the argument with a stern look. Newt turned his attention back to his audience and rolled his eyes as if to say, “see what I have to deal with?”. He took a sip as he read some of the comments being made, hiding his smirk behind his cup at the occasional “typical British” comment. 

“Welcome, _R_ _unner4life_ , glad you could join us. Made it just in time” Newt greeted as he placed his tea on the table next to the laptop. He smiled wider when he saw the username  _ OnlySonya’s _ appear. “And hello to you too, Harriet.” Knowing that his sister's girlfriend cared enough to watch his videos always made him happy. Even if she was only watching them to get a glimpse of her girlfriend.

Newt decided he had let the soft bickering go on long enough and subtly nudged Alby and Sonya to get them to focus back on the task at hand. “Now then, I think we’ve waited long enough. So, last week I had you all vote on which game you wanted me to play today, and because these shanks decided they wanted me to be surprised, I’ve no clue what game we’ll be playing today.” 

Newt had to stifle his groan when Ben took that as his cue to turn the TV on. There on the screen he saw the menu for Man of Medan. He forced a smile as he felt his hands begin to sweat, “Wonderful… unfortunately for me it seems you all love torturing me just as much as this lovely group of so called friends.” 

Aris glanced around Alby with a smirk, “It’s not that bad, besides we all get to take turns playing it with you. They have a multiplayer function, we just gotta pass around the controller.” 

Newt shot him a glare before turning back to the screen, “Yes well… that doesn’t quite make me feel better. Let’s get into it shall we?” Newt forced out as his heart began racing, he absolutely hated scary games. If he had it his way he’d play nothing but fun easy games. He said as much to the group and received a mixture of groans and chuckles.

“Sorry, Newtie, but no one wants to spend the next hour watching you run around as a purple dragon. Talk about boring.” Sonya teased, much to the enjoyment of everyone watching. Newt huffed and muttered as he started the game.

The group spent the next half an hour, after they had chosen their characters, entertained at the amount of times Newt would jump or screech at any little movement on the screen. Sonya laughed loudly when Newt decided to hide behind a pillow and only peeked over it to continue playing his turn. 

“So, Newt, I can’t help but notice the last time you left the house was last week.” Sonya commented as she watched her brother pass the controller over to Ben for his turn. 

Newt frowned at his sister before shrugging and turning his attention back to the screen, “I’ve been busy catching up on school projects.” 

Sonya nodded and caught Aris and Alby shooting her questioning glances. She ignored them as she turned back to her brother, “Newt, you said that last week.” 

Newt spared his sister another glance, “I was busy then too. Where are you going with this, what’s it got to do with the game play?” 

Sonya shook her head as she answered, “Nothing, it’s just something me and Harriet have been talking about.” She paused and stared at the camera, “For anyone who’s new and doesn’t know who Harriet is, that’s my girlfriend, and she has her own channel so go follow her at the link below.” Sonya glanced at Aris who nodded, knowing that she was silently asking him to add that information to the description page.

“Anyways, we were talking and we’ve come to the conclusion that you’re a bit of a homebody.” 

Newt felt his eyebrows rise, not expecting to have this conversation, as he stared at his sister, “Now is definitely not the time to talk about this.” He stated with a forced polite smile. He knew how quickly this conversation would spiral if he didn’t stop it, Sonya had been pestering him to get out more for the past couple of weeks. It was becoming a very tiresome argument between them. 

Sonya smiled back completely ignoring the tenseness, “Right right, anyways, we spent all date night last week thinking about you. So be happy, even when you’re not there you still manage to intrude during our personal moments.” 

Newt flushed brightly at the memory of accidentally walking into his sister and Harriet in a very embarrassing position. There were so many things a brother did not need to know or see or even hear about his sister. He shivered in disgust at the mental image that brought up again and glared at his sister when she started howling in amusement. She knew just where his mind had gone and couldn’t help but tease. 

“That was by the way, completely your fault. We hung a sock on the door. I just didn’t expect you to not know the meaning. My naive little, Newtie.” Newt groaned again and hid his face in the pillow as the rest of his friends started laughing. He had known the meaning for the record, he was just a little too excited to tell his sister the news about getting all “A’s” on his most stressful semester that he hadn’t bothered paying attention. Single biggest mistake he had ever made, it made him rethink his decision to move in with his friends and sister.

“Anyways, back to the point. So there we sat at dinner, wondering, ‘how can we get Newt out of the house for a couple of days before it becomes his coffin?’ and then it hit us. You and Thomas can collab! Or well… you could join Thomas in his next video.” Sonya explained excitedly. 

Newt jumped at the next scare before he turned his attention to his sister, “First of all, that has nothing to do with this bloody game play. Second, who is Thomas? Also, I do to go out! Shuckin’ hell, Benjamin! Make at least some effort to hit the correct buttons!” Alby and Aris smothered their laughter at the high pitch Newt’s voice had gone. Newt might’ve thought everyone tortured him with scary games, but the truth was they just loved the way he let loose any and all British slang terms he knew when he was scared. 

Sonya and Ben laughed loudly, knowing he was messing up on purpose to cause different scenes. Sonya composed herself to the best of her abilities eventually and turned to her brother again. “First of all, it has everything to do with the game play, because this is currently live and that means the 300+ people watching can vote immediately and we can have faster results.” She turned to the camera and smiled, ignoring her brother’s protests. “All those watching, Aris is currently adding a voting poll to the channel. You guys decide whether Newt should make a video with Thomas or not. Go vote! You have until the end of this video and then the polls will be closed!” 

Newt turned to Aris just in time to see him finish putting up the poll and sighed in defeat. Sonya turned back to him and forced her features into a frown, “Second, how do you not know who Thomas is?! He runs one of the most popular explore channels out there! Not to mention he’s Harriet’s best friend! Also, going out for school supplies and groceries does not count as going out.” 

Newt shot his sister an annoyed look as Ben passed the controller to Alby, and spoke slowly as if the answer was obvious. “I don’t know him because I’ve never met him…” 

Alby chimed into the conversation, “And you never met him because….” 

Newt frowned and turned to the TV again, before reluctantly answering. “I never met him because I barely leave my room.” 

Ben and Sonya smirked at the admission and turned their attention back to the game play, satisfied to hear Newt coming to terms with being a homebody. Newt groaned when he glanced at his phone, seeing the poll. Majority vote was already siding with a collab video and their game play wasn’t even finished. 

The group played one more turn each before deciding they had all played long enough, and it was time to call it quits. Sonya smiled widely at the results and turned to the camera. 

“Results are in, looks like the next time you’ll see us, will be in one of Thomas’ videos… That is if he agrees..” Sonya spoke hesitantly, Newt felt hope rise in his chest. He quickly started running ideas through his mind on how to get Thomas to say no to the idea of a collab. 

His hope died however when Sonya’s phone vibrated with a new message, which she quickly shoved in his face. He sighed and pulled the phone far enough away to be able to read the message. He felt the pressure of Alby and Aris reading over his shoulder. 

**To: Sonya**

**From: Harriet**

Thomas is in. He’s looking forward to working with you all. 

**To:Sonya**

**From: Harriet**

See you guys here bright and early tomorrow. He recently came by a new spot to explore. 

Also, keep Monday and Tuesday free, his exploring videos usually take a few days. 

**To: Harriet**

**From: Sonya**

Great! Thx babe! We’ll see u guys tomorrow!

Newt frowned and glared at his sister. “So soon?! I haven’t even agreed to this idea…” 

Sonya smiled and shrugged, “You don’t have to agree, your fans chose for you. I’m so excited! Bye guys!! Tune in again soon! Make sure to follow us all on our channels, Aris will make sure the links will be in the description. Until next time!” 

Newt grumbled his goodbye, already knowing that arguing with his sister was futile. “Until next time everyone. Remember, stay in the barriers and stay safe.” Whether he liked it or not, this video was happening. He just hoped this Thomas character was smart enough to keep his explorations away from anything that would get them in trouble, because he had finals in a couple of weeks and he wasn’t too keen on the idea of having to study for them from a jail cell.  



	2. Chapter 2

“Yes Rachel, I heard you the first time. Things are going well. Oh excuse me...” Thomas was startled out of his mental debate over soup, by a gentle tap on his shoulder. He glanced over and met a kind smile. 

“Would you be kind enough to hand me the soup above you? The creamy chicken one?” Thomas let his eyes travel over the brunette. 

“Uh yeah sure?” He turned back to the shelf and grabbed the soup for her, wondering why she didn’t just grab it herself. It’s not like she was short, or like there weren’t any packages of the exact soup almost directly in front of her. He handed it over to her and went back to contemplating his choice of soup when her conversation caught his attention again. 

“No, if you pass the Shoshone sign, then you’ve gone too far.” Thomas shifted further down the aisle, but stayed close enough to overhear the brunettes conversation. 

“Yes, Rachel, I’m sure it’s abandoned.” Thomas’ interest peaked. He stared at the package of soup in his hand as the girl paused to listen to whoever was on the call. If Thomas were any further than where he stood, he wouldn’t have been able to hear the brunette with how softly she spoke into the phone. “I know it’s abandoned because it’s on the other side of the barrier and no one is dumb enough to ignore the government and head into the unknown. Well… except for us anyways.” 

Thomas frowned at the answer she gave to the Rachel girl. Into the unknown; that was past the barriers the government had built in each state. Everyone had that piece of information drilled into their brains since they were born. “The Unknown” were parts of the earth that were deemed uninhabitable and very dangerous for humans. Or at least that’s what the government had led everyone to believe. It scared people, enough so that when the time came to it, most citizens agreed that drastic measures needed to be taken and a ballot was held. Leading to the construction of the walls, barriers, around each state. It was a promise that would keep everyone safe.

“Right, so you’ll be heading through Death Valley National Park until you reach Death Valley Junction. You’re going to take the first dirt path you see on your way to Shoshone. It’ll be hard to see but there’s a huge billboard sign, with pictures of trees on it, right by the dirt road. If I didn’t know any better, I would think it was put there specifically so it could hide the path. Anyways you’re going to keep driving parallel to the barrier until you come to a group of trees.” Thomas pretended he was texting Chuck as he quickly typed out the directions being spoken. 

“Once you get to those trees, you’ll see a path that leads into them, and it’s very narrow so be careful. I don’t know how it hasn’t been reported yet but those trees cover a hole in the barrier and that path leads you straight through it, to the other side.” 

Thomas frowned, wondering how it was possible for something like that to go undetected for so long. “From there you’re just going to keep driving in the direction of the mountains for a few more hours. You can’t miss it because it is massive. It must have been a testing site or something because the walls are huge, I saw no end to them. It makes me wonder what exactly is on the other side.” Thomas smirked to himself as he walked away, he had all the information he needed. Now it was time for him to head home and speak with the others about it.

If he had stuck around any longer he might have noticed the smirk on the brunette's face as she glanced his way.

* * *

Thomas stepped into the kitchen towing an arm full of groceries. He said a quick hello to Frypan. For as long as any of them had known the boy, none of them had ever questioned his nickname or tried to figure out his real name. 

“Hey Tom, need a hand?” Frypan asked as he finished putting together a sandwich. 

“You eat, but I’ll call Gally down to help.” He answered as he placed the bags he was carrying on the table next to Harriet. Gally was the strongest of them, it only made sense to make use of his muscles. Thomas flicked his best friend on the forehead as he passed around her. He caught a glance at the screen of her laptop and wasn’t surprised to find she was watching another YouTube video with her girlfriend in it. He shook his head in amusement as he passed through the living room, spotting Minho taking up the couch while watching the same video Harriet was on his phone. 

“Didn’t know you and Harriet had similar tastes.” He commented as he paused by Minho’s head, bending down a bit to see the screen. 

“We don’t, not really anyway. I watch it because Newt is hilarious during gameplays. She watches it because her girlfriend is on there.” Minho responded. 

Thomas hummed and straightened up again, “She’s watching it right now also, I don’t see why you two don’t just watch it together.” He commented as he made his way to the bottom of the stairs. He heard Minho gasp, as if the thought never occurred to him, before calling for Harriet. 

Thomas shook his head as he called up the stairs, “Gally if you’re not busy, I could use some help unloading the groceries.” 

“Yeah, give me a second.” He heard Gally shout back, he turned to head back outside and almost ran into his stepbrother. 

“Hey Chuck.” He greeted as he ruffled the short boy's hair, he chuckled when his hand was batted away. 

“Need help?” Chuck offered once he pulled away from his older brother. 

“Sure man, if you want to but I think Minho and Harriet are about to watch that Newt kid right now. I know you enjoy his videos so I won’t make you miss it.” Thomas watched as the boy lit up and took off to join the other two in the living room. He felt a pat on his arm and glanced over to see Gally. The two boys spent the next few minutes unloading all the groceries from the car and then unpacking them and putting them away. 

Every now and then they would stop and check out the video the others were watching in the living room, particularly when they heard a loud scream followed by cursing. In Thomas’ opinion he could see why Minho and Chuck were entertained. Gally and Thomas finished with the groceries and made their way to the living room, wanting to see how the rest of the video would end. He shoved Minho’s legs off the couch and took a seat next to Chuck, Gally sat on the floor between Harriet and Frypan. 

The six of them took turns commenting on how the game play was going and laughing whenever Newt got scared.

“Hey, why haven’t I ever met Newt? Sonya is always here, and I mean I know Ben, Alby and Aris in passing, but I never met Newt.” Thomas questioned the group. 

Chuck rolled his eyes, “Weren’t you listening? Newt never leaves his house, it’s why none of us except Harriet have met him.” The group laughed at Newt’s embarrassment when Sonya mentioned the predicament he found himself in. Minho reached over and gently punched Harriet’s shoulder. 

Thomas felt all eyes glance his way briefly when he became the topic of Sonya and Newt’s conversation. He glanced over to Harriet, “Did you guys really make us the topic of your conversation? I’m touched.” 

Harriet rolled her eyes and turned her attention to an open poll on her phone, “Don’t flatter yourself. The only reason you were mentioned was because Sonya thought a video with you would get her brother out of the house.” 

Thomas shrugged, couldn’t blame a guy for wanting to feel important to his friends. He watched as they each brought up their phones and participated in the voting poll Sonya was telling the audience about. He let his thoughts wander back to the grocery store until he felt a sharp jab to his ribs. He frowned and rubbed at the spot before turning his attention to his brother. 

“So? How about it? You gonna do it?” Thomas smiled at the hope tinging Chuck’s questions, before turning to find the rest of his friends were waiting for his answer. Harriet with her phone ready to send her girlfriend his reply.

He pretended to think over the idea before nodding. “Yeah, sounds like it could be fun. Besides I haven’t seen any of them in a while, it’s about time we all did something together.”

Thomas thought about the conversation again, he was really interested in finding the place he had heard about. “Tell them we’re leaving early tomorrow. They should probably keep their schedule open as well.” 

Minho frowned and pulled out his laptop from the side table, “Tomorrow morning? That’s not a whole lot of time for me to find something Thomas.” 

Thomas stopped him and shook his head, “No need, I have the perfect place.” He then proceeded to explain the conversation he overheard at the grocery store. As he explained he saw Gally grab his laptop from the cabinet under the TV, presumably to find the place Thomas was explaining. 

Gally waited for Thomas to finish giving the rest of the group instructions on what to do before he spoke up. “I’m not finding anything, Thomas. No satellite images, no mentions of anything in that area, nothing. Are you sure you heard the girl correctly?”

Thomas frowned and nodded, “Yeah, I made sure to write everything down in my phone. Besides if it’s outside the barrier, you wouldn’t be able to access any images other than sandy hills and mountains.” He answered as he searched through said phone. Gally nodded and kept scrolling around through satellite images when Frypan stopped him.

“Go back. There, what’s that?” He questioned as he pointed at the screen. Gally squinted and got as close to the object as the image would let him. He could barely make out the letters. Thomas was right, there shouldn’t be anything out there besides sandy hills and mountains, yet the sign on his laptop proved them wrong.

“Hey I think we got something.” Gally stated as he caught everyone’s attention again, interrupting Thomas and Harriet’s conversation. 

Thomas had just finished telling Harriet to find a company that would rent them a car big enough to fit all 11 of them and their equipment and luggage, when he heard Gally.

“Really? So there’s something actually there?” Thomas asked, unable to keep the excitement from his voice.

“Yeah, it looks like a sign, I can’t really make out the words on this small screen though. Maybe if it was bigger...” Gally’s thoughts were interrupted by Minho.

“Try connecting your laptop to the TV. It’ll be a bigger screen, that way we can all see what you’re talking about.” Gally nodded and searched through the cabinets for another HDMI cord, listening to Harriet explain the cars she found.

“ _Enterprise_ has vans that fit 7 to 15 passengers comfortably, according to their website.” She stated, looking up at Thomas from where she was sitting on the ground. 

“Great, see if you can book the 15 passenger one.” He responded.

“Why? The 12 passenger one should be enough, there’s only eleven of us.” Chuck questioned before Harriet could say anything.

“With the 15 passenger one we would have enough space for all the equipment and everyone’s luggage to fit comfortably with us.” Thomas explained seeing the understanding look on his friends faces. 

Gally finished connecting his laptop and looked up at the screen before pausing. “You gotta be shucking kidding me.” 

His words grabbed the rest of the room's attention. Everything was silent as they took in the words on the sign. 

**Property of World Catastrophe Killzone Department**

Gally of course, was the first to break the silence, “There’s no shucking way we’re exploring that.” 

Thomas shrugged, he was as shocked as the others but he was also far more excited than he should be. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t, if this is out there the world has a right to know. Who better than us to tell them?” 

Minho scoffed, “Forget it, Tom. This sounds like a dangerous place, you know we’re usually up for whatever stupid plan you have… but I’m not entirely convinced about this one. I mean it has Killzone in the name. Besides how are you ever going to get the others to agree to something like this?” 

Thomas pondered an answer to the proposed question before shrugging. “We keep it a secret, don’t tell the others until it’s too late to turn back. Once we get there, and tell them, if they refuse to go in… then they can wait out in the car?” 

Thomas was met with dubious and hesitant glances. He sighed, “Come on guys, we’ve always wanted to explore a really cool abandoned place and now we have one. You guys can’t back out on me now… Just because it says killzone, doesn’t actually mean that’s what it might be… If it is, then the government is going to have a lot of explaining to do...” 

Gally frowned and crossed his arms as he glanced back at the screen. He knew Thomas was always reckless in his explorations, but this was taking it to a whole new level. He also saw the determined look in his friends eyes and sighed, it was a look they all knew. Thomas was going whether the others joined him or not. As much as Thomas annoyed him, he still cared for the guy and he wasn’t about to let him do something this dangerous alone. “Alright fine, I’m in. On one condition.” 

Thomas broke into a smile, “Sure, whatever it is.” 

Gally met Thomas’ smile with his own serious expression. “If, and that’s a big if, but if there actually is something there I’ll explore the place with you. But I want your word, that we will leave if anything looks even the slightest bit sketchy.” 

Thomas let his smile slip as he glanced around the room, “Of course, Gally, that’s a given. You know I would never say no to that. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to you guys.” 

He watched as his friends nodded in acceptance. Thomas loved exploring old and abandoned places, but he would never force them to do anything they weren’t comfortable with. He’d gladly trade his safety for the safety of others, and they all knew that. 

Once everyone had reluctantly agreed to the trip, they split up to start packing and getting things together. Thomas made sure to help Chuck pack once he was finished with his own, reminding the younger boy to fill up his hydration pack. He also made sure to check in with Harriet about when they could pick up the van. Hiding a groan when he was told he had to be up at 5 in the morning to get ready and leave to get the van at 6. He was excited for this trip, but it didn’t mean that he was thrilled about the early morning. 

He made sure to stop by the kitchen to assist Frypan with getting their food packed up, and anything the other man would use to cook. Once that was finished he made his way upstairs to the room Minho and Gally shared. There he spent the next couple of hours helping the two find the quickest route to their destination. He also double checked that everyone had their hydration packs ready along with any other bags and that they at least packed a knife or some kind of weapon just in case. 

Exploring abandoned places could be a fun hobby, but he also knew it could be dangerous. He had learned that from experience and based on what the sign read, it was better to be safe than sorry. With that thought in mind, he made sure to grab his machete and baseball bat, and put them by the door. Gally had bought him the machete as a joke one year for his birthday, never had any of them thought they’d see the day when Thomas decided it was needed. 

Seeing it leaning against the wall by the door gave new meaning to what they were getting themselves into, and the group wasn’t entirely sure they were ready for it. 


End file.
